Observations & rants from the left,
and I don't care if you're offended.

03 March 2004

Urgent Alert: U.S. Led Coup in Haiti

2004-03-03 | Ira Kurzban, the lawyer who represents President Jean Bertrand Aristide, announced that the Central African Republic (CAR) has shut off President Aristide's phone service. He said that armed members of the French and CAR military are guarding President Aristide and he is not free to leave.

While there are many conflicting reports coming out of Haiti and Central Africa, the only way we will be able to determine the truth is open communications and immediate investigations.

In the United States, send an Email to your congressperson calling for the following:

· President Aristide Should be given full access to the media and telephone communications restored.

· President Aristide should be free to go where he chooses, otherwise it is clear that this was a coup orchestrated by the United States and France.

· An immediate Congressional investigation should commence to determine the role that the U.S. played, directly and/or indirectly in Aristides removal from power, and in supporting the civilian and military opposition movement.

· A multilateral force, not controlled by the U.S., should be deployed to stabilize the situation and immediately disarm the military opposition.

· The Bush administration should commit to an emergency economic development package to rebuild the Haitian infrastructure.

· Free and fair democratic elections should be permitted without the interference of the U.S. or its allies.

· One standard of treatment for all refugees should be in place. Haitian refugees should receive admission to the U.S. and be supported during this period of crisis.

· Rescind President Bush's unprecedented directive to the U.S. Marines to thwart all efforts of Haitian asylum seekers to reach our shores.

01 March 2004

Multiple sources that just spoke with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told Democracy Now! that Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. She said he had been threatened by what he called US diplomats. According to Waters, the diplomats reportedly told the Haitian president that if he did not leave Haiti, paramilitary leader Guy Philippe would storm the palace and Aristide would be killed. According to Waters, Aristide was told by the US that they were withdrawing Aristide's US security.

TransAfrica founder and close Aristide family friend Randall Robinson also received a call from the Haitian president early this morning and confirmed Waters account. Robinson said that Aristide "emphatically" denied that he had resigned. "He did not resign," he said. "He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president. ...

COMPLICIT IN THE OVERTHROW?: U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) said on ABC's This Week that the Administration is "just as much a part of this coup d'etat as the rebels, as the looters, or anyone else" because they "made it abundantly clear that Aristide would do best by leaving the country, which means that the rebels, the looters ... [were] given to believe that they should never, never, never accept Aristide as the president." Not only did the Administration demand Aristide's removal, but it refused to send peacekeeping troops until Aristide left. Said Rangel: "All we had to do was to send 200, 300 troops over there and tell those people to put down the arms." And at least one news agency reports that the caretaker of the Haitian presidential palace witnessed Aristide being forcibly removed from the palace by U.S. troops. Rangel's point was reinforced by one diplomat who noted that when Aristide was negotiating with rebels over the last two weeks, "it was clear that Washington had its own agenda during the mediation." Specifically, "the United States refused to talk about sending in peacekeepers to help thwart the gunmen's uprising in the countryside as part of a peace plan." As the diplomat said, "When they were refusing to address the security concerns, it was clear they had other things in mind," the diplomat said. "It was clear to me two weeks ago that Aristide was a goner."

This is how the Dubya administration wins friends and influences nations.

29 February 2004

"If we just had an international presence saying drop your guns, then the Aristide supporters would drop their machetes and we would not have the bloodshed. Then we'll have a little longer to determine whether or not Aristide should accommodate the accords and integrate the opposition until his government." -- .:Rep. Charles Rangel:.

Aristide has left the country. Those who oppose him were determined to sieze power, by hook or by crook, and they've succeeded, so far. It's more important than ever to know exactly who these people are.

The Group Players: FRAPH, Tonton Macoutes

FRAPH  The full name is: Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress. The group was responsible for at least 5,000 murders and untold numbers of bloody assaults in the 1990's. Its members are free and have been deeply involved in the current destabilization of the country.

According to a 1996 .:UN Human Rights Commission:., FRAPH also had close ties to the CIA, which paid the salary of at least one leader - Emmanuel "Toto" Constant - and also allegedly supplied the thugs with weapons.

The CIA has denied the charges, but curiously our government has refused to return all the documents stolen from Haiti in 1994. The documents that have been returned were heavily redacted.

Jodel Chamblain and Emmanuel Constant are two former (current?) members of FRAPH, and by all accounts two of its deadliest. Jodel .:resurfaced:. in Haiti, despite charges against him, and the U.S. refused to detain Emmanuel, who now lives in Queens, NY.

Tonton Macoutes  an .:armed militia:. responsible for intimidation murders during both Duvalier regimes (Papa Doc & Baby Doc). Its members are also free and undoubtedly involved in the opposition's bloody activities.